Southwest re-booking flight bc they're cheaper now...worth it?

[mguilford1]

You have paid for this when you first book, so you will not be recharged for it.

I rebooked flights for a credit and was charged this fee. I was told it was a mandatory goverment fee whenever you book even if you are just transfering to another flight

 

[pooch]

Have changed flights on SWA dozens of times and have never had to pay the $2.50 fee again. I get charged with the first booking. Then, every time I make a change to that flight, the fee is applied to the new reservation

 

[palhockeymomof2]

And just to confirm, the other couple purchased EBCI as well, correct?

Yes sorry I wasn't clear...they purchased their tickets and EBCI at the same time but after I had purchased our tickets and EBCI in the same fare class

 

[LisaS]

I rebooked flights for a credit and was charged this fee. I was told it was a mandatory government fee whenever you book even if you are just transferring to another flight

Was your reservation booked with points or cash?

 

[mickey1968]

If you change a reservation made with points to a lower priced fare, do the points that are refunded to your account get tagged with any kind of date expiration like the "cash" credit?

 

[DebbieB]

If you change a reservation made with points to a lower priced fare, do the points that are refunded to your account get tagged with any kind of date expiration like the "cash" credit?

Goes back to your account unrestricted.

 

[LisaS]

If you change a reservation made with points to a lower priced fare, do the points that are refunded to your account get tagged with any kind of date expiration like the "cash" credit?

As DebbieB said, no restrictions. Unlike Travel Funds which have an expiration date and are tied to the name on the original reservation, when you reprice a points reservation the points go back into the account they came from with no restrictions.

 

[Disneycouple99]

I rebooked flights for a credit and was charged this fee. I was told it was a mandatory goverment fee whenever you book even if you are just transfering to another flight

What they do is they give you a 2.50 credit when you rebook and charge you again with the new booking. So yes you will be charged 2.50 every time you rebook, but you will have been given a 2.50 credit first.

 

[mickey1968]

Goes back to your account unrestricted.

As DebbieB said, no restrictions. Unlike Travel Funds which have an expiration date and are tied to the name on the original reservation, when you reprice a points reservation the points go back into the account they came from with no restrictions.

Yes sorry I wasn't clear...they purchased their tickets and EBCI at the same time but after I had purchased our tickets and EBCI in the same fare class

Was your reservation booked with points or cash?

Thanks! That's what I wanted to hear!

 

[Halle]

I received a credit on a flight in May. I had paid the $12.50 for my seat. When I went too print Boarding pass I was in the B group. I spoke to DS and DD who had booked their tix FIVE days after me and they were in the A group. I called SW, rep I spoke to said it was because I rebooked for the credit. When I got to the airport I relayed the info to the gate attendant, she told me that should not have happened and let DH and I board after the A folks but before the B's. If you rebook for a credit be certain to confirm that you aren't bumped with your boarding.

 

[Minniekins]

Have changed flights on SWA dozens of times and have never had to pay the $2.50 fee again. I get charged with the first booking. Then, every time I make a change to that flight, the fee is applied to the new reservation

If, however, your new booking now has one or more connections, and not the nonstop you changed from, you will be charged the fee for each leg of the trip. *So, say you switch to a flight with 2 stops before you get to destination, you'd be charged another $5, 2.50 for each leg, with a total of $7.50 for three legs!

*Oh, and I did hear yesterday, that fee has actually gone up - it's now something like $5.40 per leg, increased from the $2.50!

If you change a reservation made with points to a lower priced fare, do the points that are refunded to your account get tagged with any kind of date expiration like the "cash" credit?

Nope!!! As the other two posters said, there are no restrictions on those points! That's what I love about booking with points! Much more useful for me than getting a cash credit that I probably wouldn't be able to use in the allotted time. Especially since the cash credit can only be used for that person each ticket was booked for. So even if I book and pay for both tickets for myself and my daughter, I can only use the cash credit from my ticket. Used to be able to use the cash credit for anyone but not anymore. With points, if I change to a lower fare, all the points go immediately back into my rewards account without restriction on when or who can use the points, it's awesome!

 

[LisaS]

If, however, your new booking now has one or more connections, and not the nonstop you changed from, you will be charged the fee for each leg of the trip. *So, say you switch to a flight with 2 stops before you get to destination, you'd be charged another $5, 2.50 for each leg, with a total of $7.50 for three legs!

*Oh, and I did hear yesterday, that fee has actually gone up - it's now something like $5.40 per leg, increased from the $2.50!

Thanks for the heads up about the increase in the security fee. It's being increased to $5.60 per flight segment as of July 21st! And while there is currently a cap of $5.00 per one-way flight no matter how many stops, according to this WSJ article when congress passed the legislation to increase the security fee, they did not include a cap on the new fees. So unless something changes, we'll be charged an additional $5.60 every time we change planes on the way to our destination. (The article states that Congress did not intend to remove the cap so it may be restored.)

The article also mentions that airports want to increase the facility charge from $4.50 to $8 per boarding. For some reason when booking Southwest with points we don't have to pay that fee. I hope that does not change!

 

[Minniekins]

YW! And thanks for all that extra info on the increase of those fee! As I read that, it brings back all that info I did hear in the radio report, but forgot when writing my post, lol.

And, yes, I hope they keep that other non-fee for point bookings as is!

 

[rcepek]

No experience here! How does it work if you are using points but don't have enough yet? Will earn more but want to book now in case flights get booked up. Do you buy now and get credit or get refunded to SWVisa card? Any assistance is appreciated.

 

[LisaS]

YW! And thanks for all that extra info on the increase of those fee! As I read that, it brings back all that info I did hear in the radio report, but forgot when writing my post, lol.

And, yes, I hope they keep that other non-fee for point bookings as is!

I wonder what happens if we booked a flight on points before July 21 and paid the current security fee and then, sometime after July 21st we change the flight because the point cost went down. Normally we would get credit for the security fee we had paid and then SW would apply those funds automatically to the "new" flight. I imagine we'll get hit with the higher fee and have to pay the difference between the original $2.50 per segment (capped at $5) and the new $5.60 per segment (not capped). If so that adds another element to the decision of whether or not to reprice a flight booked before July 21st.

 

[Minniekins]

No experience here! How does it work if you are using points but don't have enough yet? Will earn more but want to book now in case flights get booked up. Do you buy now and get credit or get refunded to SWVisa card? Any assistance is appreciated.

Nope, they don't let you buy with cash and later refund that cash so you can use points. Once you buy with cash, that's it! I booked our Nov/Dec trip the day they opened booking for Nov and Dec. Well, 3 legs of the 4 needed that is! I only had enough points for my and DD23's way down to Orlando, and for one of us to come back! So, I told her I would sacrifice and stay down there, she has a bf to get back to! She didn't like my plan, lol, she thought I should go back to work and she would make the sacrifice! Anyway, to buy those three, I was short about 700 pts! It was during May when they had the 25% off on buying points, so I bought 2000(smallest amount I could buy). Then I stalked the SW site, watching in hopes that the price wouldn't go up(142$/8540 pts). I would much rather buy with points than cash, for the possibility of getting points back if flight price goes down, to use toward future flights, instead of credits that limit me to when I can use and only ticketed person can use the credit. I was waiting for my closing date on SW visa, when I'd have enough points to buy one more ticket home(darn it, lol). The minute my points showed up, I pounced on that last ticket, lol! Then I kept stalking SW in case prices went down, which our flight home did, and I saved almost 2000 pts which was nice.

I wonder what happens if we booked a flight on points before July 21 and paid the current security fee and then, sometime after July 21st we change the flight because the point cost went down. Normally we would get credit for the security fee we had paid and then SW would apply those funds automatically to the "new" flight. I imagine we'll get hit with the higher fee and have to pay the difference between the original $2.50 per segment (capped at $5) and the new $5.60 per segment (not capped). If so that adds another element to the decision of whether or not to reprice a flight booked before July 21st.

I bet they will charge the new fees! I did read somewhere here on the DIS transportation forum, that they didn't intend to take the cap off, and it was expected to be fixed. Don't know if that's true, but I hope it is!